OM240e no serial number

paulyy

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Hello guys,

I bought a guild om240e (was the only one at the store with the smaller model the M) but the problem hits me after when I notice that there was no serial number. Not inside, not even in the neck.

Why is that?

Thanks!
 

Antney

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did you ever see the three stooges episode when they were making beer, and the phone rang, distracting them, and they each put the yeast into the mixture? my guess is the same thing happened to your guitar, and some distraction caused someone to overlook the serial number application. of course this is just my uninformed assumption, and in no way am i insinuating your instrument was made by a stooge.
 

Nuuska

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I just LOVE LTG - learning new words weekly after all these years :watermelon:
 

adorshki

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Hello guys,

I bought a guild om240e (was the only one at the store with the smaller model the M) but the problem hits me after when I notice that there was no serial number. Not inside, not even in the neck.

Why is that?

Thanks!

HI Paulyy, Welcome aboard!
See this thread:
https://letstalkguild.com/ltg/showt...ly-Collection-Serial-Number-quot-Decoder-quot.
Is it not stamped on the heelblock as in this pic?:
Seriennummer%202.JPG

If not, then wondering if it might be a prototype of some sort, we've seen several of those over the last few months, even getting into dealer's inventories, which used to be quite unusual for Guild.
Was it sold as "new" with a warranty, and did it come with the inspection tag mentioned in that thread?
(Wouldn't expect that for a prototype)

PS Member SFIV1967 (Ralf) is one of the most credible sources here, he's spent considerable time digging into issues like this where Fender and new owners Cordoba Music Group haven't seen a need to make the info widely available.
 

Tom O

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The number stamped on the heelblock is different than the serial numbers on the older GAD series I have. The neck in the photo was made Sept 20, 2013. The paper label may have fallen out. Watch out for a buffed out "used" stamp on the back of the headstock that the reworked GAD guitars had (2nds with a new serial number pasted over the hand written number on the label). This was done to show there was no Guild warranty. Most of these had minor cosmetic defects that were repaired.
 

adorshki

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The number stamped on the heelblock is different than the serial numbers on the older GAD series I have.
This is true, it was covered in the thread I linked.
But the OM240 is a "Westerly Collection" model introduced by new owners Cordoba Music Group after 2014, and should still have a heelblock plate with the model and s/n on it as seen in last pic in this Reverb listing (sorry can't link pic only):
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...VEtNkCh01LgfMEAQYAyABEgLDOvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
(Tom forgive me if you already know all that but it still might help our new member understand what we're getting at.)
I confess to not being familiar enough with the new MIC product to have remembered just how they "marked" 'em.
The neck in the photo was made Sept 20, 2013.
You're right but that was just a "location example" photo from the other thread and is verified there, and yes it is a GAD which are handled a bit differently than the Westerly Collection even though made in same factory.
Blame me for causing confusion.
Watch out for a buffed out "used" stamp on the back of the headstock that the reworked GAD guitars had (2nds with a new serial number pasted over the hand written number on the label). This was done to show there was no Guild warranty. Most of these had minor cosmetic defects that were repaired.
This is interesting to me, don't recall ever seeing the "Used" stamped into headstock on GAD's, thought this was only done on US-built product when the s/n was still being stamped on headstock, and yes it was done to obliterate the s/n.
For sure the paper s/n-barcode sticker over the original factory label's s/n was a consistent feature of instruments refurbished by Fender's preferred liquidator MIRC for the reasons you mention.
(Don't know if new owners Cordoba Music Group still use them for Westerly Collection models, but it wouldn't surprise me and would actually seem to only make sense to continue an existing relationship just like they did with Chinese factory GREE.)
In that case yes one would expect to see the heelblock plate removed or at least the s/n obliterated, AND MIRC's s/n sticker on the label because they also use that for internal documentation of what repairs were performed and to vet the 90-day dealer return privilege they offer.
SO: We HAVE seen examples of instruments in which that s/n label had been removed, apparently in attempt to disguise the fact that it was a refurb, but it takes paper away with it.
Removing a whole label AND the heelblock plate might "fix" that "give-away" so yes it's legitimate possibility even for this Westerly Collection instrument the OP is asking about.

And finally, at Paulyy:
Forgot to advise new members' first few posts are vetted by mods to screen out spambots, so don't worry they should all be visible in a couple of days and you'll be posting in real time, then.
 
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paulyy

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HI Paulyy, Welcome aboard!
See this thread:
https://letstalkguild.com/ltg/showt...ly-Collection-Serial-Number-quot-Decoder-quot.
Is it not stamped on the heelblock as in this pic?:
Seriennummer%202.JPG

If not, then wondering if it might be a prototype of some sort, we've seen several of those over the last few months, even getting into dealer's inventories, which used to be quite unusual for Guild.
Was it sold as "new" with a warranty, and did it come with the inspection tag mentioned in that thread?
(Wouldn't expect that for a prototype)

PS Member SFIV1967 (Ralf) is one of the most credible sources here, he's spent considerable time digging into issues like this where Fender and new owners Cordoba Music Group haven't seen a need to make the info widely available.


Nice! There is my serial number haha. Thanks!
 

paulyy

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This is true, it was covered in the thread I linked.
But the OM240 is a "Westerly Collection" model introduced by new owners Cordoba Music Group after 2014, and should still have a heelblock plate with the model and s/n on it as seen in last pic in this Reverb listing (sorry can't link pic only):
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...VEtNkCh01LgfMEAQYAyABEgLDOvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
(Tom forgive me if you already know all that but it still might help our new member understand what we're getting at.)
I confess to not being familiar enough with the new MIC product to have remembered just how they "marked" 'em.

You're right but that was just a "location example" photo from the other thread and is verified there, and yes it is a GAD which are handled a bit differently than the Westerly Collection even though made in same factory.
Blame me for causing confusion.

This is interesting to me, don't recall ever seeing the "Used" stamped into headstock on GAD's, thought this was only done on US-built product that when the s/n was still being stamped on headstock, and yes it was done to obliterate the s/n.
For sure the paper s/n-barcode sticker over the original factory label's s/n was a consistent feature of instruments refurbished by Fender's preferred liquidator MIRC for the reasons you mention.
(Don't know if new owners Cordoba Music Group still use them for Westerly Collection models, but it wouldn't surprise me and would actually seem to only make sense to continue an existing relationship just like they did with Chinese factory GREE.)
In that case yes one would expect to see the heelblock plate removed AND MIRC's s/n sticker on the label because they also use that for internal documentation of what repairs were performed and to vet the 90-day dealer return privilege they offer.
SO: We HAVE seen examples of instruments in which that s/n label had been removed, apparently in attempt to disguise the fact that it was a refurb, but it takes paper away with it.
Removing a whole label might "fix" that "give-away" so yes it's legitimate possibility even for this Westerly Collection instrument the OP is asking about.

And finally, at Paulyy:
Forgot to advise new members' first few posts are vetted by mods to screen out spambots, so don't worry they should all be visible in a couple of days and you'll be posting in real time, then.

Yeah I know. Thanks!
 

paulyy

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Thanks! My serial starts with G219 what that means? Its from china but how do you know when it was made?
 

Tom O

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GAD from china had date as part of the number stamped on the neck heal starting with year month day?. It is not the serial number on the Guild label.
 

adorshki

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GAD from china had date as part of the number stamped on the neck heal starting with year month day?. It is not the serial number on the Guild label.
Paulyy's is a Westerly Collection, those are done differently than GAD's even though from same factory.
They're built to new owner Cordoba Music Group's specs now, even though still have a lot of GAD DNA in 'em.
Pauly: in case you didn't know, "GAD" stood for Guild Acoustic Design, a line introduced by Fender in late '03 and which first appeared in the spring '04 Guild price list.
Guild USA had nothing to do with marketing or manufacturing 'em, but since Fender owned the 'em and rights to the Guild logo etc, they put it on those instruments.
To be fair they did use a lot of Guild design elements.
I think in fact they may have been based to a large degree on the actual spec drawings that Fender developed during the period after they bought Guild in '95, in preparation for revamping the line which started in Corona in very late '01.
That project was described in this article from Vintage Guitar:
https://www.vintageguitar.com/21567/guild-in-the-post-fender-era/
I don't have any independent confirmation of my hypothesis, but I think it's beyond coincidental that the GAD line appeared during the tenure in Corona.
All by way of saying that these MIC guitars sis in fact start with genuine Guild design elements and weren't just a Chinese factory's stock product with a Guild logo slapped on 'em, they weren't just "Badge engineered" as some call it.
I'm sure CMG is continuing that design principle and in fact has taken it to another level with the variety of products offered, like your own OM240 which would translate to an F30 archback under the old US-built nomenclature, and in fact I don't think they ever built an F30 archback. Not that I recall at the moment, anyway.
Thanks! My serial starts with G219 what that means? Its from china but how do you know when it was made?
OK , S/N: Pretty darn sure it's got be 2019, and the only method of narrowing it down we've seen so far was in Ralf's post #1 in that other thread (I see you just hit it this AM but also know that if you use a mobile device, viewing previous posts can be problematic):
And now to compare: Guild Westerly Collection: (3 real serial numbers posted below)
G1150461, G1151487, G1155321

It looks like: 8 digit serial number, always starts with G1 = Guild China, 15 is manufacturing year, the last 4 digits are the running numbers for a max of 9,999 Guild Westerly Collection guitars per year from China.
It would be great to check this in a year from now and see if that system is the real decoder or not.
Ralf
SO for sure Ralf wasn't sure if his model was "100% correct" back then but suspect it's darn close.
 
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SFIV1967

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The neck in the photo was made Sept 20, 2013.
Not exactly. The next two digits after the month (in this case 20) are of no significance and are an internal number used to identify the order number in the factory for GAD guitars (so it is not the day of the month).
Ralf
 

paulyy

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Paulyy's is a Westerly Collection, those are done differently than GAD's even though from same factory.
They're built to new owner Cordoba Music Group's specs now, even though still have a lot of GAD DNA in 'em.
Pauly: in case you didn't know, "GAD" stood for Guild Acoustic Design, a line introduced by Fender in late '03 and which first appeared in the spring '04 Guild price list.
Guild USA had nothing to do with marketing or manufacturing 'em, but since Fender owned the 'em and rights to the Guild logo etc, they put it on those instruments.
To be fair they did use a lot of Guild design elements.
I think in fact they may have been based to a large degree on the actual spec drawings that Fender developed during the period after they bought Guild in '95, in preparation for revamping the line which started in Corona in very late '01.
That project was described in this article from Vintage Guitar:
https://www.vintageguitar.com/21567/guild-in-the-post-fender-era/
I don't have any independent confirmation of my hypothesis, but I think it's beyond coincidental that the GAD line appeared during the tenure in Corona.
All by way of saying that these MIC guitars sis in fact start with genuine Guild design elements and weren't just a Chinese factory's stock product with a Guild logo slapped on 'em, they weren't just "Badge engineered" as some call it.
I'm sure CMG is continuing that design principle and in fact has taken it to another level with the variety of products offered, like your own OM240 which would translate to an F30 archback under the old US-built nomenclature, and in fact I don't think they ever built an F30 archback. Not that I recall at the moment, anyway.

OK , S/N: Pretty darn sure it's got be 2019, and the only method of narrowing it down we've seen so far was in Ralf's post #1 in that other thread (I see you just hit it this AM but also know that if you use a mobile device, viewing previous posts can be problematic):

SO for sure Ralf wasn't sure if his model was "100% correct" back then but suspect it's darn close.

Perfect, thanks! Surely has to be from 2019 but i was asking to understand how it works this serial or if the other numbers means anything.

In the other hand I have a pau ferro fingerboard. Needs the same maintance as a rosewood? Im meant lemon oil or has to be different treatment? Thanks again!
 

adorshki

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Perfect, thanks! Surely has to be from 2019 but i was asking to understand how it works this serial or if the other numbers means anything.

In the other hand I have a pau ferro fingerboard. Needs the same maintance as a rosewood?
Yes even though not actually a rosewood, but possibly better suited for fretboards 'cause it's actually harder.
Im meant lemon oil or has to be different treatment? Thanks again!
Real lemon oil could actually be undesirable as it may tend to dry out the wood due the high solvent ability of the aromatic oil itself.
And it's acidic enough that it's specifically UN-recommended for maple fretboards, for example.
If you're talking any of the commercial products/compounds, they have very low lemon oil content but most of 'em contain silicones which may break down glue bonds (fretboard to neck) over time.
They're also potentially bad for NCL finishes but that's not a worry on a poly finished guitar.
Also commercial furniture polishes can leave a waxy build-up on the board.
Traditional fretboard treatment is boiled linseed oil, what oil painters would use for thinner:
Contains enough aromatics to evaporate quickly, and the boiling catalyzes it so it doesn't get gummy as it ages.
Others have suggested walnut oil and bore oil for woodwind instruments.
I've used Guitar Honey before but like bore oil it contains petroleum distillates although those are low risk compared to silicones.
Note treating the fretboard only needs to be done maybe once a year and certainly not more than twice a year under the most extreme conditions like extended daily playing in a dry environment.
Do your fingers tend to build up fret grunge quickly?
If not, and you don't live in an area of extreme low humidity, I wouldn't even worry about it for a year and a half at a time.
Heck I've gone 2 years and more without treating mine, but any given instrument probably gets less than 30 hours of play per year anymore.
(They also live in their cases when not actually in my lap).
 
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